Racial episodes shake Ohio's Oberlin College

Published: Tuesday, March 5, 2013 3:30 p.m. CST

By Associated Press THOMAS J SHEERAN

OBERLIN, Ohio (AP) — Scrawls of racially offensive graffiti and, more recently, a report of someone wearing what looked like a Ku Klux Klan-type hooded robe on campus have shaken students at historically liberal Oberlin College, one of the nation's first universities to admit blacks.

A day after the school canceled classes and students marched on campus, many remained worried about their safety.

Pleasant, who is black, said she became upset after hearing a few white students suggest that the racist graffiti first found a month ago and anti-Semitic and racist fliers and other messages left around campus since then were just a prank to get out of classes.

The college canceled Monday's classes after the early morning sighting of someone in a hooded robe. Classes resumed Tuesday.

Oberlin city police Chief Thomas Miller said investigators are trying to determine whether the white robe sighting was reliable or possibly related to a separate sighting of a person wrapped in a blanket.

He said two students are under investigation for possible involvement in the graffiti incidents and are facing college disciplinary action, but no criminal charges have been filed. Miller said it wasn't clear whether the actions were a student prank or motivated by bigotry.

Meanwhile, the police department has provided stepped-up patrols around the campus at the request of the college.

In an open letter, college President Marvin Krislov and three college deans told the campus community that they hope the ordeal will lead to a stronger Oberlin. Students and professors gathered Monday afternoon to talk about mutual respect.

Hate-filled graffiti and racially charged displays are not unusual on college campuses. But what makes this string of incidents so shocking is that it happened at a place tied so closely with educating and empowering blacks in America.

Oberlin began admitting blacks nearly 180 years ago. Among its graduates are one of the first blacks elected to public office and the first black lawyer allowed to practice in New York state.

The city itself was a stop on the Underground Railroad that aided escaped slaves.

The college, with nearly 3,000 students, remains a liberal oasis in the middle of northern Ohio, surrounded by conservative farming towns and rust belt cities. Cleveland is about 30 miles away.

Isaac Fuhrman, a psychology major from Lexington, Mass., said the incidents were upsetting, especially for black students.

"I guess for them, Oberlin doesn't seem like such a safe haven perhaps," said Fuhrman, who is white.

The Oberlin Review campus newspaper has tracked the incidents since Feb. 9 and said they include defacing Black History Month posters with the n-word, a "whites only" sign written above a water fountain, a swastika drawn on a science center window and a student knocked to the ground by a person making a derogatory comment on ethnicity.

Joshua Blue, 18, a first-year student from Naperville, Ill., who is black, said the incidents have cast the historically tolerant Oberlin community in a different light.

"We believed that there was what people call the 'Oberlin bubble,' which is the idea that we're in this area where hate and anger and stuff like that doesn't exist," he said after phoning his mother to assure her about his safety.

"It's a wonderful idea to feel safe and accepted," Blue said. "But the recent event was a reality that we're still part of the world and the issues of the world are also our issues and you can't avoid that."

Blue, who is studying vocal performance, said he has begun riding home from evening rehearsals with classmates for safety.

Francis Bishop, 83, who lives near the campus, said he couldn't remember similar race-related incidents on the campus and speculated it was done by someone trying to cause a stir.

"It's so much of an isolated thing, in the long run I don't think it's going to make a hill of beans," Bishop said while walking his dog near the picturesque town square lined with college buildings and shops.

No fraternity or sorority houses are at Oberlin, and athletics isn't a big part of campus life. Instead, students come to study music, art and creative writing.

Notable recent alumni include Jerry Greenfield of Ben & Jerry's ice cream and Lena Dunham, creator of the HBO series "Girls" — a show featuring several characters who met at Oberlin.

Dunham wrote on her Twitter account Monday that she was saddened by the hate-filled incidents.

"Hey Obies, remember the beautiful, inclusive and downright revolutionary history of the place you call home. Protect each other," she wrote.

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Associated Press writer John Seewer in Toledo contributed to this report.